In the beginning of film class, we were assigned a short film lasting about 5 minutes. We were to put to use the knowledge we had gained in lecture and discussion to make films within our 6 groups and finally combine them together in a film festival at the end of the semester. Last week in class, my group was assigned the genre of drama as well as some lines and props we must include in our film too. We didn't have much to go on at first, except for maybe a something like a stalker drama. We had our director take the idea and run with it, and now we have something really close to a finished product. It still includes what the audience thinks is a stalker at first, but there's a certain twist at the end that I don't want to mention quite yet. I'm sure with some reworking and molding of our initial ideas, we'll have something great to film.

As camera operator (which can almost double as director of photography), I'm already thinking of how the shots should go along with what happens in the story. I find myself wondering what shot looks best with the situation, like a pan or a point of view following or showing something in particular. I also think of what the audience will see and how this will affect the way they feel and experience when watching the film. Right now, we have a rough draft of our script and I'm pondering what kind of actors we'll need and where to shoot our scenes. We have begun to collaborate and even started a Facebook group to keep our discussion going.

I think we could definitely do some good editing and a few special effects with the software available to our editors. I want our film to have a clean, polished look, and that's a big responsibility of mine as the camera operator with the high-tech camera we are provided with. We won't be needing an elaborate set, as we are filming mostly on a college campus, but we will need some way to set up the scenes that we have in mind and that will require some organization and troubleshooting. I'm confident that we have the creativity and innovation to make all this possible, but getting some help with the acting and the scenes wouldn't hurt either. We have a few more weeks to figure things out, but that's where we are for now.

Looks Like It's Raining Fantasy...

Last week in class we watched and discussed Singin' in the Rain, a film following the introduction of sound in movies and the transition that occurred. The female actor's obnoxious, high-pitched voice and strange accent made it quite funny and ironic that her voice shattered the illusion she had on screen in silent films as opposed to the ones now featuring her voice. The acting, singing, and performances were all clean and dazzling, but a little "too clean". We found out this is because of sound dubbing, for the taps during the dancing and even dubbing for Kathy's singing for Lena in the film. Additionally, the over-the-top performances of the actors seems to be due to the fact that the setting was in the 20's when everything was bigger and more exaggerated. I also enjoyed the abundance of slapstick and good, witty characters to go along with it.

A few important themes discussed in the film were celebrity culture, movies as fantasy and the fantastical preconceptions of love. The celebrity culture of the time portrayed was a bit out of control. The actors/actresses could not control their publicity or what was said about them in any magazine. This resulted in rampant "rumors" about their life that weren't true (for example, saying Don and Lena were together). Also, the fact that movies portray unrealistic ideals about life and love is something we see even today. It all goes back to whether an audience wants to watch a movie in order to escape the harsh realities of life, and the majority of them like to do so. But, when watching things repeatedly that give us these unreachable goals for our lives, it can become disappointing when our life or love life don't amount to what we see on screen.

Well, as camera operator I get to play with the camera and get my test footage soon. It will prove to be a difficult, but educational and beneficial task. I should be a camera expert by the time we're through, but we will have to see how it all turns out, I guess.

A Few Forks in the Path

From the recent workshops, there have been a few things that stood out to me when thinking about the future of our Short Film assignment due at the end of the semester. I have seen that good sound (which is given 50 to 90% of the credit in a film), good editing (so the story flows) and adequate lighting in all scenes is very important. It surprised me to know that in horror films, the light often comes from the bottom of the shot instead of the top, to create an ominous feel. I know now that when editing, you must have a story that can be followed, but it helps you to cut down on time spent explaining if you could just use a flashback or other tool to skip forward/backward and then return to the original story. Camera angles are also very important to the feel of each scene. Like, when two people are shot talking face-to-face and another where the conversation is filmed over one's shoulder, that there is a huge difference.

Some of the more detailed techniques, like those of stop motion, cross-cutting, zoom, fade-in and fade-out, and many more impressed me as something to use in the filming and editing of our film. With the editing software and cameras available, I believe all of these techniques are possible in one way or another, but the real determining factor is the creativity and hard work our group is willing to put into it. We'll need someone in each area that knows what they're doing or is at least willing to do their research in the camera shooting, lighting, sound, and editing to make it a masterpiece. I was extremely interested in some sort of montage, with the limited time we have, to tell a larger story. With good writing and editing this is definitely possible. Also, I'd like to use a few good transitions to go from one scene to the other, such as cross-cutting or fade-ins and outs, just to make it flow a little easier.

Well, I guess it's time to put our heads together to make something not only entertaining, but good too. I believe we can accomplish almost every technique we choose with the right amount of work, except for the extremely high-tech stuff that is out of our reach. It's a movie, we can make it whatever we want it to be.

Passing Through the Shadows

We watched Sunset Boulevard in class on Thursday, and it proved to be an interesting and enlightening experience. Film Noir is a very distinct type of style and seems so different from the movies I was used to watching. The darkness of it is something I can handle, and no, I'm not a complete pessimist but I can see the best and the worst in people, and these movies can definitely show the worst. One thing I've learned is that if a movie is something easily related to, I understand the movie much better and therefore it makes it that much more enjoyable. No, I couldn't relate to the washed-up, psychotic actress and her turmoil, nor could I relate to the struggling people vying to "make it big" in Hollywood, but I was reminded that everyone has flaws and anyone can get stuck in a place they have no desire to be.

We also learned about the cinematography of the film, and how it contributed to the overall mood. It was a bit grainy, and a lot of the scenes were dimly lit or half in shadow. This further accented the theme that people, like the movie, aren't always going to be flawless or perfect, if the characters weren't enough to show that. The fact that it started badly and came full circle to end badly also makes it seem more negative and hopeless. When we're so used to happy endings these days, (with the exception of horror movies, dramas, and a few others I guess) these endings seem to fall flat. On the contrary, I enjoy an unexpected or twist ending much more than a predictable one.

Right now, I'm in the process of attempting to create a short film with the 20 random clips we were given, and my words were discontented and merciless. I think I'll make something a bit dark as well. I really have no idea what I'm doing but it'll be fun working through the actual editing process. Here goes nothing...